Sheen's attorney, Marty Singer, had pushed for a public trial, but Sheen's Two and a Half Men contract contained a clause that required that any lawsuits be handled through arbitration. According to the judge's ruling, the arbitrator will decide whether the case is handled publicly or privately.

Sheen, 45, filed suit 10 days after he was fired by Warner Bros. from the hit CBS sitcom.

"We're very gratified by the court's ruling enforcing the parties' arbitration agreement," Warner Bros. Television said in a statement after the ruling.

"The court made the appropriate ruling in denying Mr. Sheen's request to stay the arbitration in referring his lawsuit against Warner Bros and Chuck Lorre to arbitration as his contract calls for," Lorre's lawyer, Howard L. Weitzman, said. "This matter will now proceed in an orderly fashion as the parties agreed to."